Moving to Beaumont (Houston, Port Arthur, Lufkin: fit in, real estate, high crime)

[edwar050]

My wife and I will be moving to Beaumont Mid 09. We were thinking about the Fannet/Hamshire area or Lumberton. Lumberton sounds nicer and more modern although Fannet/Hamshire sounds like it would be more country and it is closer to Houston/the beaches. We have a year old daughter and were wondering if there are any very good public/private schools in the area, "I have already checked greatschools.com and it is very unclear". Thank you in advance,

Brad

P. S. we will likely have a short period of time to buy a house, therefore I am trying to do just a little bit of research now.

[Metro Matt]

I'm sure Lumberton would be a nice town, but its a little drive from Beaumont & traffic in Beaumont can rival bigger cities sometimes. If you lived in Lumberton you would have a lot of "natural beauty" surrounding you if you like 50 foot tall pine trees & more secluded where Beaumont on the other hand isn't that nice of a city...its polluted with refineries, has high crime for a town of its size (though Port Aurthur is MUCH worst) & the fact it just doesn't look very attractive in most areas of town. Oh & you won't see any hills till you get up around Lufkin & Nacogdoches, Beaumont is flat as a pan cake & floods often like Houston because its so close to the coast. You can pretty much draw an immaginary line through Beaumont where the East Texas Piney woods end & the flat Gulf Coast plains start.

[edwar050]

Thanks that helps alot big time

[texdav]

The hamshire /Fannett area is much more country type living. Both lumberton and that area are short distances from beaumont itself.Lumberton has terrible traffic problems.Personally I'd pick the fennett area but mre north of I10 and off of SH365. Very beaufitful wooded area.

[uglyblackjohn]

Lumberland is okay - but Nederland and the Mid-Country area are a bit nicer and more developed. If you decide on Beaumont, stay west of IH-10. Beaumont has some fairly nice neighborhoods but only 2 or 3 nice restaurants, no nice stores or malls, a lot of pre-fab metal buildings and very little life after dark in the downtown area (Crockett Street -sometimes refered to as "The French Nickel" and Suga's). The Mid-county area is probably the best area to raise one's family.

[edward237828]

and stay AWAY from this area..it's like a black hole...forget just beaumont..the whole area is polluted. Not only that the above posters are right, high crime, pollution, racist people, floods all the time and you got yourself hell on earth. I am moving next month..if I were you I would reconsider this..i mean really sit down and think about it. I have lived in this area for over 30 years. Make sure this what you want BEFORE you do it.

[tstone]

Here's an article:

The Beaumont Enterprise - Beaumont gets named among the worst places for families after being called one of the best w/SURVEY (broken link)

I think they're talking about the Beaumont 'metro' area. Air quality is only one of several reasons that mag rated it like it did.

I'll keep doing my long daily drive, thanks. Thankfully it's only a temporary gig.

[edwar050]

Originally Posted by edward237828

and stay AWAY from this area..it's like a black hole...forget just beaumont..the whole area is polluted. Not only that the above posters are right, high crime, pollution, racist people, floods all the time and you got yourself hell on earth. I am moving next month..if I were you I would reconsider this..i mean really sit down and think about it. I have lived in this area for over 30 years. Make sure this what you want BEFORE you do it.

I am sorry man but we are sure, my wife is a chemical engineer and her family lives in Lafeyette. She will be helping to start up the new eastman chemical plant south of Beaumont near what I believe is the Dupont.
It is the main reason I was looking towards the south, then the ocean and Houston commute.
We love the ocean, even if it not that nice down there I prefer small laid back old school areas like Dauphin Island to Panama City any day of the week. The housing prices there are a ton cheaper than here, I mean we would be getting a 40 year old home here for 200K that needs a ton of work and like 1/2 an acre max. The real estate is good there. There are only 40K people where we live now and the average age is around 55 and they act like 70 year olds up here. I am used to dealing with rednecks but not hillibilly folk much. I look forward to being able to plant a couple of lemon trees, some blood orange, maybe some pecans and actually owning some land. A BIG THANKS MATT AND DAVE for confirming my ideas about the Fannet area and the wooded side, it will be nice being an hour "minus traffic" from Houston and only 15 minutes for my wife via work "without having to drive through the city".

Brad
Ps. Are there any really good seafood restaurants there? How about Mexican?

[edwar050]

Thanks we were posting at the same time, I love Barbecue sounds great.. I figure the areas to the west stay a pretty good ways from the plants downwind at Port Arthur and along the bay, what is the name of the bay right there btw? The wind blows west to east generally right? We are from New Orleans and Mobile therefore I think we will fit in well in the area-

[texdav]

Comparing mid county to beaumont entertainment ;restaurant and shopping wise is just crazy. The only area that has any thing is northern port arhtur which is called stonegate.Other than that port neches and nederland have almost none other than small older stores.Actually you will be working in the chemical plant area of jefferson countyy just north of mid county which has alot of chemical plants that health wise are much worse than the refineries in port arthur. Being from biloxi area you would find other than the crime and old decaying houses and businesses the south port arthur area much nicer as far as natural area.It is the only coastal type area like biloxi and gulfport is.North of port arhur basically is more flat ;former cow pastures with houses built on it.The wind most times of year tend to blow from the southeast to the southwest off the gulf.Other times it is mostly from the northwest.You have to get basically to north of I10 before you start to get in the piney woods of east texas. That is why lumberton and the Nome area are growing; its more country than anything south.You would have to get more towards east bay area to get nicer coastal areas execpt for port arthur that has problems.